


The Undercover Assignment

by hermitpanda



Series: Coffee & Pie [18]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 23:55:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9521669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermitpanda/pseuds/hermitpanda
Summary: Garcia grinned and clapped her hands. “Oh! It’s a fantastic idea! You and Boy Wonder could be the undercover couple.” The rest of the team nodded and added their encouragement.“The best undercover lies are always based in truth, Sir. It sounds perfect. The pair of you could PDA it up all over town. Checking out schools, houses, stores, and coffee shops. It would probably attract the attention of the Unsub.” Prentiss leaned forward on her elbows.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the radio silence this last week. I was struggling with my muse. It wouldn't settle and kept bouncing from idea to idea so this story, the last chapter of Paterfamilias, and the newest of the Homo Sapiens Mutata trilogy were all written in two-three sentence fragments over the last week. I'm going to concentrate on getting the final HSM story written and another top secret story written then I'm going to take a couple weeks off so this will be the last Coffee & Pie story for a few weeks. I'll be back by March. Promise.  
> ~* HermitPanda *~
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters. Just borrowing them.
> 
> Quick note: Once Reid & Hotch get to the hotel, everything they say until the final scene is carefully thought out as part of their cover story in case the unsub overhears them. So while Reid loves Jack, he doesn't truly consider him his son. Yet. Just a clarification.

Reid threw a sugar packet at Morgan’s face. “Shut up and leave me alone. I thought you didn’t want any mental images of my sex life?”

 

“I’m not asking you to draw me diagrams. I’m just asking if it’s plain vanilla or if there’s any spice at all to your sex life. He doesn’t seem to be the most adventurous guy, and you’re so… virginal still.” Morgan propped his hip against the counter in the break room.

 

The genius scrubbed a hand over his face in frustration. “I notice you only hit me up about this when I’m alone and not when he’s around. Probably because you know he’d hit you.” He sighed and wished he could summon his boyfriend telepathically. His interrogator just crossed his arms and looked at him. “I have a very active, fulfilling sex life, Morgan. What do you want to know? What brand of lube do we use? If we use condoms? Favorite positions? How many orgasms we each had last night? You know as well as I do that you really don’t want to know about my sex life.”

 

“That’s hardly an appropriate topic of discussion for the office.” Hotch appeared in the doorway behind them suddenly nearly making Spencer drop his favorite coffee mug. “We have a case. Round table room in five.”

 

“Sorry, Hotch.” Morgan hurried out.

 

Spencer looked at him sheepishly. “Next time he brings it up, I’ll just shoot him or something.”

 

“Fine. Just make sure there are no witnesses,” Hotch said with a hint of a smile before turning and leaving the room. 

 

~*~

 

“Kind of an out there idea, but this is a smaller community that might not appreciate our presence. The only connections between the victims were that they were all gay and had all been spotted in public engaging in some heavy PDA. I think that if we could set up a couple of guys undercover as a gay couple new to the area, we might be able to lure the killer out.” Morgan leaned back in his chair. He could see Hotch debating the idea. He smiled. “Too bad we don’t have a pair of guys that we could send in undercover that were comfortable turning on the PDA. Since the LEOs are probably too well known to be undercover.”

 

Garcia grinned and clapped her hands. “Oh! It’s a fantastic idea! You and Boy Wonder could be the undercover couple.” The rest of the team nodded and added their encouragement.

 

“The best undercover lies are always based in truth, Sir. It sounds perfect. The pair of you could PDA it up all over town. Checking out schools, houses, stores, and coffee shops. It would probably attract the attention of the Unsub.” Prentiss leaned forward on her elbows.

 

Spencer fidgeted with the case file and looked up at Hotch with his brows raised. “One of the universities in Denver is currently searching for a physics professor. I could claim to be in the running for it. They did actually offer it to me. The town’s close enough to commute. Uh, we could say that we don’t want to live in the Denver metro area if we moved to the area. Smaller town, better school district, more family friendly. If we could lure in the unsub to attempt an attack on us, no more gay couples would have to die.” He stared at the photos of the last dump site.

 

Hotch considered while the team looked at him expectantly. He finally gave a single nod. “Let me call the lead detective and discuss it with him. Garcia, don’t finalize anything but start checking out what we’d need. Rental car, hotel room, appointments to look at houses and schools. Surveillance equipment and such.”

 

~*~

 

“So… I was thinking.” Spencer stared out the window as Aaron pulled the rental car onto the state highway that would take them to their destination. They had given the team an almost two-hour head start to get to the town and get set up in the police station before they’d left Denver. Until the unsub was caught or it was determined that the unsub wasn’t going to go after them, they would have no contact with the rest of the team except via text message. All of the cameras and microphones for their hotel room and the ones they would wear were tucked in Spencer’s messenger bag.

 

“No way. Do you do that very often?” the older man quipped drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

 

Spencer turned and narrowed his eyes. “Shut up, smartass. So… Morgan is still obsessed with our sex life.”

 

“Because he’s not seeing anyone right now. He’s most interested in what we’re doing when he’s not getting any himself. Just ignore him.” Aaron quickly glanced at his lover and raised a brow when he saw a vicious grin.

 

“I was thinking that it would be so much more fun to ensure that he never wonders about what happens behind our closed doors ever again. He wants answers. Let’s give him some answers. He’ll never be able to remove the images we can plant in his brain. He’ll never ask us again.” Spencer cackled gleefully.

 

“That’s your evil genius laugh. Care to share with the slow kids?”

 

Spencer turned more in the seat, folding his left leg so he was almost completely facing Aaron. “I may have asked Rossi to ensure that Morgan’s our tail when we check into the hotel. I was thinking that we could make sure he gets quite an eyeful on the way to our room. Once we get to the room we have to start all the cameras and mics. It’s the only chance that won’t, in essence, be us playacting. We have to lay on the PDA, but we can’t give him the eyeful I’m thinking he should have”

 

Aaron glanced at him again. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

 

“I’ll put it on my to-do list,” the younger man snickered.

 

~*~

 

Morgan flipped through a newspaper while he waited for Reid and Hotch to show up at the small hotel they and the team were staying at. He glanced up when he heard a deep chuckle. The pair were laughing about something as they made their way into the lobby with their suitcases. It was surreal to see the Unit Chief wearing a pair of jeans and t-shirt while on duty. Reid was also dressed down. He had foregone his sweater vest and tie and had rolled the cuffs of his button down to just below his elbows. Neither man acknowledged his presence but he saw Reid’s eyes roam the room so he knew he’d been spotted.

 

The pair went to the desk, and while Hotch started the process of checking in, Reid had leaned slightly onto his back, putting a hand into one of the older man’s back pockets. After a moment, he appeared to get bored and wandered over to a rack of tourism pamphlets near Morgan. “Come on, Babe. We’re in room 314,” Hotch announced more for Morgan’s benefit than Reid’s. He slid the keycards into his pocket and grabbed both suitcases.

 

“Pi! Did you request that room?” Spencer grinned happily. He hooked a finger in Hotch’s back belt loop as they walked towards the elevator.

 

“Nope. It’s fate.” Hotch laughed pulling his lover into the elevator. Reid plastered himself against the older man’s back.

 

“Hold the elevator!” Morgan called out and watched Hotch’s hand shoot out to stop the door’s progression to close. He shot him a grateful look and leaned against the wall opposite the pair whispering conspiratorially. He knew he couldn’t say anything to them that a stranger wouldn’t. The elevator had a surveillance camera, and they didn’t know if the killer had access to it. 

 

Whatever Hotch whispered to Reid had the young man giggling. Morgan bit his tongue to keep silent when he saw Reid’s hand brush across Hotch’s fly. “Mmm, can’t wait to unwrap my present.” 

 

“Behave Baby. We have an audience. We’re almost to the room.” Hotch gripped Spencer’s wrist and pressed a chaste but promising kiss to the young man’s lips. They stumbled out of the elevator when it reached their floor. 

 

Morgan followed more slowly. Luckily his room was further down the hall than theirs so he could follow them until they got into the room. He rolled his eyes when the genius pushed Aaron against the wall across from the elevator. Spencer moved his hips against the older man’s in a way that told Morgan exactly what was going to happen as soon as the pair got into their room. He slowly walked towards his room. He whirled around when he heard Hotch moan. Spencer blatantly had his hand shoved down the front of the older man’s pants while they kissed.

 

“There’s kids staying in this hotel. Take it to your room,” Morgan said through gritted teeth. 

 

The speed with which Reid pulled himself away from Hotch was excruciatingly slow. He turned to face his friend but kept one hand behind himself in a way that suggested he was up to something. He gave Morgan a smile that was innocent, too innocent. Morgan narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “I’m very sorry. Forgot myself. We have a son at home and not enough time alone. Sorry.”

 

“Understandable. Just keep it behind closed doors?” Morgan turned away and continued down the hall to his room. He glanced back as he got there and saw that the other two men had finally reached their room. Reid was leaning on Hotch’s back again while the older man unlocked the door. He grimaced when he realized that Hotch’s fly was undone. That was obviously what Spencer had been doing with his hidden hand. The way that the younger man smirked at him just before disappearing into the room told Morgan that the show in the elevator and the hallway was for his benefit. He heard a thump that was obviously one of them being shoved against the door and a lewd moan. He shook his head. “Little shit.” 

 

Lesson learned. Never ask Reid about his sex life again.

 

~*~

 

Hotch turned his body into Reid’s as they stood in the driveway of a house they had just toured. If they were truly moving to Colorado and considering the house, it actually would have been perfect for them. It was a simple craftsman style directly across the street from a large park. For a split second, he almost considered telling his lover they should resign their jobs and move to give Jack the quiet, danger-free life he deserved. He nuzzled into the younger man’s neck. “We’re being watched from the park. Three o’clock.”

 

The genius hummed in acknowledgment. He spotted the man attempting to lean casually against a picnic table. It appeared as though they had managed to lure in the unsub after just one day of touring houses while being openly affectionate. “God, look at that view. It’s ridiculous. I feel like it’s a giant painting on a tarp.” He turned his head to brush his lips across Hotch’s cheek. “That guy was down the street from the last house we looked at too. Green Chevy Monte Carlo. No front plate. Colorado requires from and back plates.”

 

“I’m going to take a picture to send to Jack.” Hotch stepped away from Reid and pulled out his phone. He hoped the guy wasn’t eagle-eyed enough to see him zoom in. He texted the picture to the rest of the team with Spencer’s description of the car.

 

“That was our last appointment for the day. The agent told me about a scenic overlook. Want to go check it out?” Spencer suggested. If they allowed the unsub to follow them to the private overlook, he might try for them. 

 

Aaron nodded. He brushed his lips across Spencer’s cheekbone. “We can contact the others from the car, tell them where we’re going.” They headed to their rental car. As soon as Aaron pulled away from the curb, Spencer had his phone in hand texting the team with their plan. “He’s following. Not very subtle.”

 

Spencer shrugged. “The sooner he goes after us, the sooner we can finish this case. This one bothers me.”

 

“Bothers me too. I’m pretty sure the team is bothered by it as well. They framed it in a teasing way, but I suspect that’s why they were so quick to push us into coming into it undercover. Not that they want us to be in danger, but they know that we can handle ourselves and that they’ll be around to protect us as well. They know that any of these couples could be us.” Aaron sighed. He slowed down slightly when he noticed that the unsub had almost lost them at a red light. 

 

“They’re in position,” Spencer announced. 

 

Aaron followed the signs for the overlook, noting that there were fresh tire tracks in the dirt road. There were a couple cars parked in the turnouts along the road. Some of them were for hikers. Others he recognized as belonging to members of the local police force. Spencer gestured to a large, empty turnout. He pulled in and stopped the car. He reached down and removed his gun from his ankle holster while Spencer retrieved his revolver from the glove compartment. They slipped the guns out of sight in their pockets. He reached over and cupped his lover’s cheek as the unsubs car pulled past them. “Love you,” he mouthed.

 

Spencer leaned over quickly and brushed his lips across Aaron’s. “Love you too.” He jerked away when the unsub slammed his fist down on the hood of their car. The genius turned wide eyes to the man glaring at them angrily with a machete in hand. “Please, don’t hurt him,” he whimpered when the man wrenched open Aaron’s door and yanked him out of the car roughly.

 

“FBI! Freeze!” Morgan led the rest of the team and the locals out of the trees with their weapons drawn. 

 

Spencer hurried around the car with his own aimed steadily at the man leaning over Hotch arm poised to strike. The man’s mouth worked soundlessly before he tossed the knife to the side and lifted his arms in surrender. Reid reached down to pull his partner up while Morgan cuffed the killer. “You okay?”

 

“I’m fine.” Aaron nodded brushing the dirt off the ass of his jeans. He turned when the lead detective approached him. “Detective Miller, I’m SSA Aaron Hotchner and this is Doctor Spencer Reid. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

 

“Thank you for this. I don’t think we would have caught him this quickly if you hadn’t been willing to be undercover.” Miller shook Hotch’s offered hand and nodded at Reid when he waved.

 

“We’re just glad we could help before anyone else was injured.”

 

~*~

 

Hotch crossed his arms as he watched Spencer extract a detailed confession from the man that had killed four couples. 

 

Detective Miller shook his head. “It’s no excuse for what he did, but damn, I feel bad for the man. Killing people because he was jealous that they had what he felt he couldn’t. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be beaten by my father for being gay.”

 

“Plenty of men were beaten by their fathers for being gay or bisexual. Most of them don’t turn into killers. I’m sure that Reid knows the statistics.” Hotch swallowed. 

 

“Some of them even turn into FBI agents.” Miller watched him closely. The Unit Chief looked at him with a raised brow. “It doesn’t take a profiler to see the love that you and the doctor have for each other. He couldn’t have faked the concern in his eyes when you were yanked from the car.”

 

Hotch turned back to the observation window. “My team is a family. We’re all very close.”

 

“It doesn’t bother me, and when I fill out the questionnaire about your team, nothing will get mentioned.” Miller rocked on his heels.

 

“Thank you. We appreciate that.” Hotch nodded. “This case was a bit personal for the team.”

 

“Understandable. I went to high school with two of the victims. I had to get this solved for them.” The two men fell silent for several minutes. “May I ask you something?”

 

Hotch nodded. “Of course.”

 

“Agent Morgan seems to be doing everything in his power to avoid looking at you and Doctor Reid…”

 

Aaron openly laughed. “Morgan has some mental images he doesn’t want floating around his brain. He has now learned not to piss off a genius because they can become an evil genius when they exact their revenge.”

 

Miller chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  
  



End file.
